Paracetamol before marathon

Am running a marathon this Sunday. I have been experiencing a bit of toothache recently and so was planning to take 1g of paracetamol before the big race as a precaution to any annoyances during the race.

Along with this, I am planning to have what some might say a 'standard' breakfast in preparation although this will involve an energy drink of some sort and some kind of carb/protein bar, although no out of this world stimulants

Just checking that taking paracetamol close to a big race with other energy products will not have any adverse effects. I am aware of the guy who tragically lost his life at the Brighton Marathon, where it was found he had a 'cocktail' of stimulants and painkillers such as Ibuprofen.

If anyone could advise, would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Comments

  • I reckon don't bother, the pain of the running should outweigh the toothache.

  • I am not a medic but....!

    I've had chronic back pain for the last couple of years so take a several paracetamol every day including before all my long training runs, marathons, triathlons etc.  I find the long runs hide the back pain though as the legs hurt far more than my back so don't bother once I get going or for the rest of the day.  Never had a problem.  Wouldn't do ibruprofen though as there's more risk associated with dehydration.

    I stick to tried and tested fuel/food such as croissants and cup of tea before breakfast, and my normal energy gels and plenty of water during the race.

    Not exactly ideal but i need something to get me going first thing in the morning or I'd be curled up in a ball by 10am image

  • Nine There is a long standing debate about this so apologies in advance if I ignite it on the thread but I would take some Ibuprofen before the marathon. The most likely issue your going to get with the toothache is as your bodies working harder your blood pressure is going to change and might cause your gum's contract and give you toothacre Ibuprofen will against this. Won't stop it being a problem but will help.

    Reason this might ignite a debate is there are two camps about ibuprofen for a marathon with one camp (i'm in) saying it's a good prventitive measure for the race to take one before and anouther camp saying it can be bad.

    I don't know the details of the poor bloke at Brighton but from what little info I saw in the media at that time was the amounts as well as other factors that lend to there death.

  • Generally when I read such uneducated comments, Cake, I roll my eyes and remind myself that not everyone got as much school as I did. But this one, I cant let go because now you're just talking actual bollocks and that irritates the hell out of me.

    Cake wrote (see)

    The most likely issue your going to get with the toothache is as your bodies working harder your blood pressure is going to change and might cause your gum's contract and give you toothacre Ibuprofen will against this. Won't stop it being a problem but will help.


    Dehydration causes hypertension (raised blood pressure). Is this what you mean by "as your body's working harder your blood pressure is going to change"? Hypertension more commonly causes swelling of the peripheries, not contraction, and its a bit of a leap to assume that either will cause a worsening of tooth ache, when you dont know the root cause (excuse the pun!). Ibuprofen also causes hypertension, so your assertion that "ibuprofen will [what?] against this" is completely wrong. In fact, acetaminophen would be a far BETTER choice in this instance.

    I understand that you want to be helpful, Cake, I really do, and you seem like a friendly guy, but please, please stop responding to questions with utterly dubious science.

    NineDeuce - I think the first 3 comments give you a decent answer. If it were me, I wouldnt take anything, as I reckon with the excitement of the race, and the pain from your leg muscles screaming in anaerobic agony, you wont feel your tooth ache image I certainly wouldnt take 1g. My advice, FWIW, is that if you feel you must take anything, take the normal doseage (500mg) with your breakfast, which is likely to be a couple of hours before the race anyway, and then try and forget about it.
    Good luck with your race!

  • Nick Windsor 4 wrote (see)
    What an utterly pretentious tosser, fuck you!


    I do my best image

  • 1) there's plenty of time to get said toothache looked at before Sunday; google Dental Access Centres in your area and don't put it off!

    2) Ibuprofen is very good for dental pain, but it probably won't stop the problem from going from reversible pulpitis to irreversible pulpitis to apical periodontitis to a full-blown abscess without some proper treatment.

    3) Raising your blood pressure will also raise the blood pressure in the tooth, which will make it hurt more

    4) To be honest, taking either paracetamol and/or ibuprofen before your race will probably do you no harm at all, as long as you're sensible with fluids and nutrition; just read the labels firstimage

    5) The safest thing to ensure your short term survival is to stay in bed and not race at all, but please don't fear death. It's coming to us all one way or another. Getting to the race is most likely far more dangerous than the race itself... though I have no statistics to back this up.

    (I am a dentist; flyers is a vet and knows her stuff, though I think patient management for vets mostly consists of 'hold Flossie down firmly'imageimage )

  • Nick Windsor 4 wrote (see)
    flyaway wrote (see)

    Generally when I read such uneducated comments, Cake, I roll my eyes and remind myself that not everyone got as much school as I did. But this one, I cant let go because now you're just talking actual bollocks and that irritates the hell out of me.

     


    What an utterly pretentious tosser, fuck you!

     

    Nick I wish you wouldnt sit on the fence - say what you feel

  • flyaway wrote (see)

    Generally when I read such uneducated comments, Cake, I roll my eyes and remind myself that not everyone got as much school as I did. But this one, I cant let go because now you're just talking actual bollocks and that irritates the hell out of me.

    Cake wrote (see)

    The most likely issue your going to get with the toothache is as your bodies working harder your blood pressure is going to change and might cause your gum's contract and give you toothacre Ibuprofen will against this. Won't stop it being a problem but will help.


    Dehydration causes hypertension (raised blood pressure). Is this what you mean by "as your body's working harder your blood pressure is going to change"? Hypertension more commonly causes swelling of the peripheries, not contraction, and its a bit of a leap to assume that either will cause a worsening of tooth ache, when you dont know the root cause (excuse the pun!). Ibuprofen also causes hypertension, so your assertion that "ibuprofen will [what?] against this" is completely wrong. In fact, acetaminophen would be a far BETTER choice in this instance.

    I understand that you want to be helpful, Cake, I really do, and you seem like a friendly guy, but please, please stop responding to questions with utterly dubious science.

    NineDeuce - I think the first 3 comments give you a decent answer. If it were me, I wouldnt take anything, as I reckon with the excitement of the race, and the pain from your leg muscles screaming in anaerobic agony, you wont feel your tooth ache image I certainly wouldnt take 1g. My advice, FWIW, is that if you feel you must take anything, take the normal doseage (500mg) with your breakfast, which is likely to be a couple of hours before the race anyway, and then try and forget about it.
    Good luck with your race!

    image As someone with a B.S.C. if I could be bothered to reply I would so will just say it's not wouth the effort gave general advice in a layman's way instead of trying to make myself look good and acting like a bit of a c*ck womble. If you want to have a go at me I can just put you on ignore if you actually want to help other people please start doing so instead of embarrising the rest of us. Because newbie's will think we are all like this.  

  • But you didnt give good general advice at all, Cake. That was precisely my point. Your advice was based on two incorrect beliefs (raised blood pressure causing 'gum swelling', and ibuprofen lowering blood pressure), both of which I took issue with. The language you use is beside the point, if what you're saying is wrong. In my opinion, giving 'any old answer' is not "helping other people" but time and again, this is what I see you doing. It doesnt bother me in the slightest if you ignore me, what bothers me more is your advice, which does not seem to be based on any knowledge foundation.

  • But you were not just disagreeing with the advice you were also giving a personal attack against the person who gave them. As you have done to a few people on the threads which is why it’s getting embarrassing. Generally the threads are a friendly place to be ever for long running poster’s or newbie’s if someone reading your post only looked at this thread they would think we are all a bunch of t*ssor’s and never come back it was rude and childish. I try to treat everyone on here where I like them or not with the same amount of respect I expect the same in return or I just don’t bother.

    As for the post itself while you are partly right about ibuprofen and  effect if will have on hypertension understand the reason for the advise to start with in that this poor chap/lady will probably feel the toothache and ibuprofen will help as for contact via’s  swelling that’s pool choce of words on my part writing a quick help (hopefully) post on my lunch break and not prove reading it before posting. Didn’t know I would be marked on it by someone I have never met and don’t really want to.

  • Can cause fairly horrible stomach problems if taken regularly before excercise on an empty stomach.

  • Ibuprofen takes a couple of hours to work properly but lasts (I believe for 6-8 hours) Parecetamol starts to work in 20 minutes or so and will last up to 4 hours.

    Not 100% sure these time are accurate when excercising. I believe there is a tablet available now that contains both. The idea is I suppose that you get the pain relief from paracetamol initially and by the time that's worn off the Ibuprofen has kicked in.

    Do not take Ibuprofen or the  mix on an empty stomach. I made this mistake for a good few years and now get terrible heartburn quite a lot. In fairness that maybe coincidental but the warnings are to take with food as it can upset the gastric system 

  • groovy wrote (see)

    I made this mistake for a good few years and now get terrible heartburn quite a lot. 

    If you haven't already seen a Doctor, then please do so. Don't assume it's a minor complaint without getting it checked.

    I looked at the reports about the Brighton marathon runner, and they are somewhat confusing. The cause of death was Ischemic Bowel Disease - which takes time to develop and (as far as I can see) was not related to using Ibuprofen, notwithstanding the fact that Ibuprofen is not a good choice when one has stomach problems. His "cocktail" mentioned in other reports was Ibuprofen and Energy Gels. I'm guessing that a sizeable percentage of the participants took that particular cocktail.

    I'm not defending use of Ibuprofen, but the whole reporting of the supplements used is a bit...weird. Is there something we should know about the gels? 

  • Tenjiso from what I ws able to see at the time the gel's used by the poor bloke at brighton where ones he had got himself and not ones suppled by the race and this was a factor. Same as the poor lady who died at london marathon the other year. Some off the supplements that are been sold on the market at the moment via the internet are not regulated as much as they possibly should be but being sold via other country's so being able to make claims and also failing to say about the possible danger's.

  • Nick Windsor 4 wrote (see)
    flyaway wrote (see)

    Generally when I read such uneducated comments, Cake, I roll my eyes and remind myself that not everyone got as much school as I did. But this one, I cant let go because now you're just talking actual bollocks and that irritates the hell out of me.

     


    What an utterly pretentious tosser, fuck you!

    Such a shame. All that effort and he failed to spell "dosage" correctly.

    "Lettrist anarchist"  - now I'm the one rolling my eyes image

  • They were very upfront at the Comrades marathon when I last did it that mixing NSAIDs (which includes ibuprofen) gave an increased risk of kidney problems. 

    I haven't heard anything similar about paracetamol and I understand it works quite differently. I have taken small doses in races (dicky hip) . 

    +1 on just get the tooth sorted now! image

    I would worry more about the energy drink - if it's not a standard sports-specific product like Lucozade that you might see flogged by a big reputable supplier like sweatshop or wiggle. Even if it is, taking it BEFORE the race may cause a blood sugar spike-then-fall which won't be super nice. Perhaps stick to low-GI stuff before the race and save the sport drinks for during....

     

    good luck anyhow.

  • flyaway wrote (see)
    Generally when I read such uneducated comments, Cake, I roll my eyes and remind myself that not everyone got as much school as I did.

    I certainly wouldn't take 1g. My advice, FWIW, is that if you feel you must take anything, take the normal doseage (500mg) with your breakfast, which is likely to be a couple of hours before the race anyway, and then try and forget about it.

    During my edumacation toward my pharmacology doctorate I was always under the impression a standard adult dose of paracetamol is 1000mg qds not 500mgimage, but then again, like Cake,  I may not have had as much school as you - but... I did leave school at 18 to go to University so who knows?!

  • Matt Fitzgerald the American coach has written about the benefits of taking acetaminophen (paracetamol) before a marathon citing a 2008 study by the Uni of Bedford in which cyclists performed a time trial better when taking the drug suggesting it's use 'reduced the degree of effort the subjects perceived at their normal time-trial intensity' He doesn't mention doses. I have no idea if Fitzgerald is writing a load of nonsense or not but he certainly doesn't mention any safety concerns about using paracetamol. 

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